


romcom

by longflight42



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longflight42/pseuds/longflight42
Summary: In which Mark is a worker in a movie theatre on Valentine’s day, and finds Donghyuck alone crying after the movie ends.russian translation now available!
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 14
Kudos: 172





	romcom

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic published here so, here you go! hope you enjoy!  
> MASSIVE thanks to lu for all the support and help!!! love you <3  
> [her twitter!](https://twitter.com/lets_gopicnic)
> 
> [russian translation! thank you very much!](https://ficbook.net/readfic/9932347)

Mark yawned once again, staring at the clock. Valentine’s day shifts were hell most years anyway, but this one just seemed to drag on and on.

Every year, the cinema Mark worked at held special screenings of romantic films, old and new, and couples would come flocking all day. Well, they did this for most major holidays, but Mark thought the decorations looked prettier at Valentine’s, his usual workspace littered with glitter, teddy bears and ceiling-high pink balloons. This meant that the workday was longer, the shifts ran later, and Mark’s livelihood was wearing thin. There were only so many smiling couples he could greet in a day. 

The final screening of the day was for The Kissing Booth 2, weirdly enough. It was coming up to 10:30, so Mark was waiting for everyone to leave the screen so he could clean up after them then finally go home.

He stood outside the screen, trash bag and cleaning supplies in hand, listening out for the final scene to finish. When it did, he smiled sheepishly to all the exiting couples, ignoring the own yearning in his heart. He waited a few minutes to make sure everyone had left, then went in, ready for the nightmare that is getting ice cream out of the leather seats.

He turned the corner to face the seats, and was met with someone sitting there. Unlike most people he’d seen that day he was alone, tucked away in the middle of the back row. There was a large bucket of popcorn on his lap, presumably empty and he was looking down at the ground, his eyes unfocused. He probably didn’t even see Mark walk in.

Mark walked up the steps closer to him, ready to ask the boy to leave. But as he got closer, he could see more of him. His black hood was up, but it didn’t cover his red-lined eyes and puffed-out cheeks. He was fiddling with some tissues, cooped up in his own world, unaware of the poor cinema worker staring at him, whose only thought at the time was ‘Holy shit pretty boy’ 

“Uh, hey?” Mark’s voice croaked, snapping the other boy’s head up. “The movie finished? You can go if you want to.”

The pretty boy sniffled, quickly collecting his empty bucket and jumping to his feet. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry! I’ll get going.” He sounds like an angel as much as he looks like one, Mark thought.

“Wait, are you ok?” Angel Boy paused picking up his bag from the floor, then slumped back into his seat. “No.” he replied tearfully, burying his face in his hands as he started crying again.

Mark was frozen. This was not covered in staff training. Hesitantly, he crouched down so he was closer to the boy.

“Did something happen? Did someone do something to you?” Mark’s nervous questioning didn’t seem to be helping the boy, currently trying to silence his cries by wrapping his arms around his knees pulled up to his chest. “Can I do anything to help?”. 

The boy looked up, resting his chin on his knees (God, he was gorgeous) so he looked Mark in the eyes. “I just want, someone.”

“Someone to listen?”

“Something like that.” Angel boy sniffled again. 

Mark hummed. “I’ll strike you a deal. I’ll clean the screen like I was meant to, and you can rant to me. I’ll listen.”

The other boy smiled, his nose red. “You’re very kind for a random theatre worker. What’s your name?”

He blushed. “I’m Mark.”

“Nice to meet you, Mark.” his name already sounded so familiar in his voice. “I’m Donghyuck.”

...

“And it was Taeyong’s idea for me to go to the cinema to cheer myself up, him and Doyoung are at some lake getaway anyway. I just didn’t realise it would have,” he gestured to his face “this much of an effect on me.”

Mark had finished cleaning up ages ago, rubbing at an imaginary stain on the seat next to him so that his time with Donghyuck wouldn’t be cut short. “It’s ok, I cried my eyes out at Forrest Gump, I didn’t talk to anyone for a few days.” This made Donghyuck chuckle, before letting out a big sigh.

“I’m so stupid. It’s been a few months since the break-up, and I’m still like this. He doesn’t deserve me crying over him.”

“It’s ok to cry sometimes. Besides, you’re not crying over him, you’re crying over the movie, right?” Mark smirked, walking to the seat below Donghyuck’s, leaning up to face him.

“Actually, yeah. I don’t miss him, he was a dick, I miss… love.” He paused, blowing his nose. 

“That’s, really romantic.”

“I guess. I miss being in love, doing things for people, doing things with people. It feels like everyone is coupled up, except for me.”

“You feel alone? I’ve been working all day on Valentine’s, I’ve been surrounded by couples left and right, not to mention the music playing all day!” This made Donghyuck laugh again, a wonderful contrast to his tears earlier.

“Hey, I’ve been stuck in a room with a thousand couples for the past two hours! The two sitting next to me were kissing during a sad scene!”  
The two laughed together for a second, then what followed wasn’t an awkward silence, but a comfortable one, a gap between one conversation and the next.

“I’m sorry,” Donghyuck started, breaking the silence, “For ranting to you. It’s late on Valentines and you’re here with some stranger crying over their ex.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Mark climbed up over the row of seats and sat down on the seat next to Donghyuck, “Don’t apologise! If it wasn’t for you I’d probably be asleep right now, or bored out of my mind.” 

Mark looked down at his watch, shit, was that the time? He hadn’t realised how late it had gotten.

“We should go, Donghyuck,” the ‘we’ just slipped out, yet it already felt so right, “The building’s shutting in a few minutes, if we stay much longer we’ll be locked in.”.

“Sounds fun to me.” Donghyuck smirked, already on his feet, following Mark to the exit. 

…

The cinema was completely empty when they got out, everything turned off except the lights from the ceiling. The main entrance was shut as well, the automatic doors refusing to budge.

“I’ll let you out the staff entrance, I’ll just have to go collect my stuff and clock out.” Mark said, beckoning Donghyuck to follow him once again.

“Ooh, I get to go to the staff rooms? Ah, when I went to the cinema today I didn’t expect a behind-the-scenes tour!” Donghyuck giggled, chasing after Mark.

Whilst Mark checked his name off the wall and went to the back rooms to find his bag, Donghyuck busied himself by taking a photo of himself next to a sign marked ‘STAFF ONLY’, sending it to Taeyong with a string of question marks. He wouldn’t see it until the morning anyways. Interrupting his panicked texting, Mark walked back out from the storage room, now wearing a leather jacket and slinging a brown bag from her shoulder. 

“Let’s get going.” He said with a smirk, before taking Donghyuck lightly by the wrist.

…

It was much colder outside, occasional cars driving past only added to the chilling breeze. Mark was thankful for his coat, wrapping it closer around himself. He immediately stopped his actions as he looked over to the shorter boy to his left, attempting to warm himself up by rubbing his forearms, shivering violently.

“Oh, shit.” Mark quickly shrugged the coat off and wrapped it around Donghyuck’s shoulders. In the process, he tugged him so that he was facing him, their faces suddenly much closer. As Donghyuck looked up at him, Mark noticed a freckle under his eye, his dark coloured eyes, all his perfect imperfections that were such an honour to see up close. They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds that felt like hours, Mark not daring to look at his lips, or else he wouldn’t be able to look away.

“You, uh, looked more cold than me.” Mark choked out, smoothening the coat out on Donghyuck’s chest and pushing himself away.

“You’re quite the gentleman.” Donghyuck smirked, “But I need to call a cab and get home, so there’s not much point in lending this to me.” The two continued walking down the moonlit street, getting closer to the hustle and bustle of the city.

Mark let out a sigh, seeing his breath in front of him in the cold weather. As much as he hated to admit it, it was getting late, his night with Angel Boy would have to come to an end. Unless…

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Donghyuck stopped in his tracks, turning to face the taller boy.

“Why?” Donghyuck replied.

“Because,” Mark took another stabilizing breath, “I can tell you’re still sad, your rant only did so much. You deserve the love, the happiness, the romantic acts you miss. I can tell that after only talking to you for a short while. Do you want to get coffee? It’ll be at a 24 hour place, not the best atmosphere, but I just don't want you to go home without one romantic thing. It’s Valentine’s, after all.“. 

Donghyuck was looking up at him, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly ajar. He stayed in this state for a few seconds, frozen, before shaking himself out of it, blinking his eyes rapidly.

“Like, a date?” he asked in a small voice, suddenly interested in the ground.

Mark chuckled. “I mean, yeah, I’m trying to bring some well-deserved romance into your night.”. Fuck, how was he doing this? Mark’s nerves had somehow transformed into pure adrenaline and bravery.

Donghyuck broke into a smile again, his cheeks pushing his eyes up high. “I don’t have anything I need to wake up for early tomorrow for, so, okay. Lead the way, Mark.”.

…

The Starbucks was, predictably, rather empty. There were no other customers, and only two people working behind the counter, one cleaning the coffee machines, one reading the posters on the wall, clearly bored out of their mind.

Mark opened the door for Donghyuck, holding it open as the boy smiled at the floor on his way in. They walked up to the counter together, then Donghyuck turned on his heels to face Mark, placing a hand on his chest to stop him in his tracks. 

“Before you say anything, I’m paying. Consider it a thank you, for listening.” Before Mark could protest, Donghyuck was already getting his wallet out of his back pocket.

The worker cleaning the machines came over to them quickly, too bright and chirpy for this time of night. “Hi guys! What can I get for you?”

Mark was too enamored with Donghyuck’s side profile to listen to his order, only piping in with a “Same for me, please” when the barista looked at him.

“Find a table, I’ll bring it over.” Mark whispered to Donghyuck as he paid. Donghyuck nodded and went to a corner table, looking out of the window to the cars rushing by.

Mark thought he looked amazing. His own coat was still on him, now Donghyuck had his arms through it, playing with the buttons. He’d only been in the boy’s company for a few hours but he already felt so familiar, like they belonged together. His more reasonable voice piped in, ‘Mark, slow down! You don’t even know his last name!’.

Mark was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of the twin cups of coffee being placed on the counter, the barista smiling at him widely.

“You two are cute, first date?” The barista replied with bright eyes. Mark looked down at his nametag quickly, reading ‘YUTA’ in scratchy green writing that matched the neon highlights in his hair. He looked happy, suspiciously happy for someone doing a midnight shift.

“Something like that, yeah.” Mark replied, feeling his cheeks getting hotter at the mention of a ‘date’.

Yuta grinned, looking at the boy sat by the window, then back to the boy in front of him, both finding it hard to hide their excited smiles. “Have fun, kid.” The tall barista smiled, and Mark found himself smiling back. He picked up the drinks (both iced, a weird choice in February, but Donghyuck was cute so Mark let him get away with it) and headed over to the corner table. 

Donghyuck was smiling out of the window, swinging his legs back and forth, turning to look at Mark once he heard him sit down. 

“Didn’t peg you as the type for sweet drinks, Mark.” he noted, picking up his own and sipping through the green straw. Mark wasn’t, but he sipped the drink anyway nodding, albeit slowly. It was full of syrup and hints of chocolate from the cream on top, and it was cold enough to be sensitive to Mark’s teeth and send a shiver down his neck, but he powered through.

“So, are you a student? Shit, I never even asked how old you are.” Mark asked, stirring his drink with the straw. Donghyuck giggled.

“It’s ok, I didn’t exactly give you much chance to talk back there. I’m 20.”

“Ah, I’m 22, so not massively older than you. Do you have a job or, anything that you do?”

Donghyuck kicked his feet about under the table. “I go to Neo Uni, first year.”

Mark paused tapping his fingers on the side of his drink. “Ah shit I go there too! I’m a second year though, what are you studying?”

A smile graced Donghyuck’s face. “Literature. What are you doing?”

“Film.” Mark couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that this might not be the last time he saw the other boy. “You only started last September, right?” Donghyuck nodded. “How are you liking it so far?” 

“It’s, a lot. Very different to high school, but in a good way. What’s film like?”

“Not as exciting as most people think.”

Donghyuck frowned. “Really? Isn’t it just, making cool films?”

Mark sighed. “I wish. It’s mostly analysing films, which is cool, but it’s ruined watching films for me. I can’t watch films normally anymore.”

“Then why work in a movie theatre?” Donghyuck giggled, sipping from his drink.

“Because,” Mark takes another sip of his chilling drink, “It’s more than just movies there. It’s about the anticipation, the atmosphere, having a good time with your family. And I get to witness that a few nights a week, it’s great. Reminds me of when I was young.”

“Did you go to the cinema a lot when you were younger?”

“Me and my Dad, yeah. When I was in Canada.”

Donghyuck paused slowly, putting his drink down. “You’re… Canadian?”

“Yup.” he popped the P. “Born and Raised, I moved here for College.”

“It must be so different, here and Canada. How did you adjust so well?”

“One of my best friends, Johnny, is from the States, but he moved here a few years ago, he helped me adjust to all the culture differences.”

“Glad you have friends like that, mine just kick me out on Valentine’s and laugh at me.”

“But you love them, right?”

Donghyuck smiled ear to ear to himself. “Yeah, I do.”

Mark took another sip. “So, why do you choose Literature? What’s that like?”.

…

Their conversation lasted longer than expected , both long finished with their matching drinks before they got up and left.

Donghyuck had to order an uber home, seeing as the bus services had stopped running hours ago. He didn’t order it until just as they were leaving the Starbucks, wanting to spend as much time as he could with Mark. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t happy when his phone buzzed, letting him know that his driver was running late. The two walked to a nearby bus station in an attempt to shelter themselves from the oncoming cold, standing opposite each other in the cramped space. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to take this lift back with me?” Donghyuck asked for the third time, swinging on the heels on his feet. 

“It’s fine, Donghyuck.” Mark tried slipping Donghyuck’s name in each utterance, testing it out on his tongue. “It’s all street lights back to my apartment, I’ve done it a thousand times.”.

Donghyuck nodded, returning to resting his back on the plastic board of the bus shelter.

“Can I,” Mark started hesitantly, “have your number? Just in case, your roommates decide to abandon you again.”. Mark fiddled with his hands, looking anywhere but Donghyuck’s eyes.

Donghyuck smiled once again (a sight Mark would never get tired of), the lights of a nearby apartment block dimly illuminating the rose tint in his cheeks. 

“Sure. Just in case, of course.” They switched phones with the contacts app open and ready. On the opposite side of the bus shelter, Mark saw the automatic front flash of his phone as Donghyuck set himself a contact photo, so Mark did the same, taking a dimly-lit selfie of himself smiling. Hopefully they’d meet again one day soon so he could take a better one.

They gave their phones back to each other, instantly pocketing them so they could spend these last few minutes together, which felt like they were rushing past.

“So, was this evening romantic enough for you?” Mark asked, stepping into the other boy’s space slightly.

“Definitely. More romantic than I expected, at least, going to a cheesy film by myself on Valentine’s.” Donghyuck stepped forward too.

“Do you know how I could make it more romantic?” Mark let out shyly, stepping forward subtly once again.

“What could you do?” Donghyuck replied quietly, looking up at the other boy through thick eyelashes.

Mark walked up closer hesitantly to Donghyuck, their shoes parallel, barely touching. He raised his eyebrows, silently asking Donghyuck if this was ok, who nodded back slowly, not moving his eyes away from the boy towering above him.

With a deep, controlling breath, Mark took the last stretch to get closer, lowering his neck, lightly placing a hand on Donghyuck’s waist. Then, finally, he leaned down to Donghyuck’s lips.

It was the exact romcom-esque kiss Donghyuck had dreamt of many times before. He leaned up to reciprocate, grabbing Mark’s arms to support himself. They moved together slowly, as if they knew they would have lots of time in the future together, taking their time. Donghyuck moved one hand to cup Mark’s jaw, trying to get even closer, slowly moving his thumb under his eye in a massaging manner.

The space around them was silent, bar the distant sounds of the city and the occasional smack of lips which reddened Mark’s cheeks further. The kiss couldn’t have lasted more than thirty seconds, but for Mark it felt like much longer, he wanted to stay in this moment for a long time.

They were forced apart by the sound of a car honking, Donghyuck slowly breaking the kiss to turn his face to his left, his uber at the curb expectant. However all he could focus on was Mark’s breath hitting the side of his face, a jarring reminder of their close proximity. In shock and embarrassment, his hand dropped from under Mark’s eye. 

“I could do that.” Mark breathed out, Donghyuck turning back to face him again. Mark’s face was dusted pink, smiling widely. He nodded to the silver car waiting in the bus lane.“I think that’s for you.”

“I think it is.” Donghyuck whispered, still insanely close to Mark’s face. one hand still loosely attached to Mark’s arm. “I’ll… text you. To let you know I got home safe, and all that.”.

“Yeah, you do that.” Mark didn’t want to let go of Donghyuck’s dainty waist, but he did, stepping away from the boy with wide eyes. “Goodnight, Donghyuck.”.

“Goodnight Mark.” Donghyuck replied with a small smile, before rushing to his uber. He hopped into the car and shut the door behind him, waving shyly to his date as the car travelled down the road, turning a corner then disappearing out of sight.

Mark waved back, bending his knees so he could make eye contact with Donghyuck through the darkened window. He stood up straight again, before walking the opposite way to which Donghyuck left, following the streetlights back to his apartment. 

...

Down the road, a barista with brightly-coloured hair finished his shift, adjusting the messenger bag on his shoulder as he signed off at the wall and shut the door behind him. He looked both ways to cross the road, but as he looked to his right he saw two figures in the nearby bus shelter. The two slowly edged closer until they met in a kiss, wrapping themselves around each other.

The barista smiled a knowing smile to himself, before taking off across the street.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! this is my first work on here and i’m SO nervous, so any kudos, comments etc are very much appreciated!  
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/longflight42)


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